It's been told to me and I tell it to young athletes all the time; ain't nothin' like a championship. And that feeling doesn't die out when you no longer compete on the field or court. It lives on with the hope that each season brings. And on a wet and windy February night, childhood friends and their families sat together at VCU's Stuart C. Siegel Center to watch their Henrico High School Warriors trounce on it's Central Virginia neighbor (the schools are 1.6 miles apart), John Marshall Justices. The nostalgia within this rivalry brings good feelings from those of us who have participated in the games; whether in basketball or football. But there is a dark side that walks hand in hand with it. Midway through the second quarter, a fight between the games' younger patrons broke out which caused the play on the court to come to a screeching halt. Several minutes after that another squabble erupted. And then, after halftime, a small series of scuffles occurred; one had a kid kicking another down the concrete steps of the arena. The ill-equipped security scrambled to regain control. On-duty faculty members criss-crossed frantically attempting to get the youth to move along. Police set up shop outside. Ahhh....just like it used to be.
Violence has accompanied the North Side Bowl (Henrico vs. Jayem football game) since at least 1993. I assume this issue existed probably earlier because basketball games between the two schools were canceled before then, due to the fighting. Even the North Side Bowl was moved away from Friday nights to Saturday mornings to deter the thugs, not much changed. Currently there is no North Side Bowl or no regular season basketball games against each other; the result of a decade of absolute senseless brutality. Is this because the schools compete so fiercely that the aggression boils over? Not hardly. Rarely do the players fight--it's usually the bystanding students or drop outs. Maybe the proximity of the schools makes one detest another? I doubt it. The brawls are sometimes between kids who attend the same school. And if there is a line to be breached, it's that of the neighborhoods, not of the school zones. So why can't these academic institutions get together without drama?
To me, it appears to be a demonic spirit active here. I mean, we're talking probably 20 years of fighting during games that derails several young peoples' aspirations of achievement. That ain't just sides beefing. Along with that, we born agains (who some of us have come to blows in the same situations back in the day) more than likely have not done a good job telling this demon to leave and educating our youth about the issue. And because it is being labeled as a problem that "those kids have these days", then it continues and worsens. It's no different than any other demon that is tormenting our communities and/or families and/or ourselves that we have refused to acknowledge and defeat. You know, the one we blame on mama or daddy or uncle or aunt...when we have the power to destroy it (Matthew 10:8).
Homework assignment...all Just Ice and Green and Gold Christian alumni declare the violence that occurs when these two play each other finished and unable to re-appear in the powerful Name of Jesus Christ; strictly for the cause of this current and future generation.
Peace
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